Revivifying fuller&#39;s earth



May 14, 1935. B. MANROss REVIVIFYING FULLER S EARTH Original Filed Nov. 4, 1930 flllomey Patented May 14, 1935 UNITED STATES REVIVIFYING FULLERS EARTH Bert Manross, Warren, Pa.

Original application November 4, 1930, Serial No. 493,457. Divided and this application January 23, 1933, Serial No. 653,148

8 Claims.

My invention relates generally to separation of solid particles in flotation or suspension in aeriform fluid, and particularly to a process for separating solid particles such as particles of fullers earth carried in suspension in the smoke, and gases issuing from furnaces or. driers in which the fullers earth is being treated and dried.

Suitable means for. connection to a furnace or drier is set forth in patent application Serial No. 493,457 filed by the applicant herein on November 4, '1930, which is now pending, and the combination of such a device and its cooperation with the furnace is set forth in co-pending application Serial No. 653,147. The present application'and the said co-pending application Serial No. 653,147 are divisional applications of pending application Serial No. 493,457.

-It is an important object of the present invention to provide a process of the type described which will effectively and efficiently separate and collect the particles of fullers earth or the like particles carried by or in suspension in the products of combustion of a furnace of the character alluded to.

It is also an important object of the present invention to provide a process in which the separated fullers earth is returned to the furnace or drier for further conditioning.

It is also an important object of the present invention to provide a process in which the products of combustion are led from the furnace or drier and thrown or otherwise caused to impinge upon a dead air space in such a manner that the solid particles are left behind by the products of combustion in their travel toward the point of'discharge, and the separated particles collected and gravitationally conveyed away.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from a reading of the following description in connection with the drawing, wherein for purposes of illustration I have shown one embodiment of an apparatus suitable for carrying out the process of the invention, and have described and explained an embodiment of the process of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse sectional view through a furnace or drier and its separating apparatus combined and associated for carrying out the process and Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view through Fig. 1 taken approximately on the line 2-2 and showing an arrangement of a gravity operated valve for releasing an accumulation of solid particles so that the accumulation may pass therebeyond.

Referring in detail to the drawing, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout the same, the numeral 5 refers generally to a conventional type of furnace or drier having the vertically spaced floors or hearths 6, I, 8, and 9 having alternately center and side openings for passing the fullers earth or the like being treated therein to lower elevations of increasing temperl0 ature. Inasmuch as any conventional type of furnace or drier ordinarily considered suitable for the purpose may be employed in the present invention, further description thereof will not be made. One side of the furnace 5 is equipped 15 with an opening ill in which a lateral arm of a portion I! of a conventional stack is received for communicating with the interior of the furnace. The portion ll of the stack is provided with a gooseneck portion l8 which terminates in an end portion which is angularly depressed. The conduit I1 is referred to herein as a stack portion, but it is not a part of the stack proper. The stack proper is generally indicated by the numeral l l and it is connected with the stack portion H by a separator device l2, so that the separator device I2 is interpolated between the stack I I and the furnace 5.

The lower end portion of the gooseneck I8 is entered through the side of a frusto-conical casing [2 and reaches a point near the opposite side thereof. The lower end of the stack H is secured by flanges as indicated at l3 around an opening [3a in the flattened top of the casing I2. Suspended by rods or the like l6 around and below the opening l3a is a baflie plate l5 which has a position directly over the depressed end of the gooseneck portion i8.

From the base portion of the frusto-conical casing l2 there depends an inverted conical casing portion which has in its apex an opening which receives the upper end of a particle discharge conduit N provided intermediate its ends with a gravity operated gate valve 22 mounted on a shaft 23 traversing the conduit M, said shaft having a. laterally directed portion 24 provided with a weight 25 for determining its openingand closing in accordance withthe weight of the fullers earth particles or other particles accumulated in the inverted conical lower portion of the casing l2. A stop 21 on the interior walls of the conduit l4 prevents the weight 25 from swinging the gate q valve 22 upwardly and open when insuflicient particles are resting upon the gate valve to maintain it horizontal and closed or depressed below the horizontal and opened.

The casing I 2 is supported on a suitable frame work I9 which has at the top a supporting ring 20 upon which flanges 2I on the casing I2 are arranged to rest for mounting the casing I2 in the proper relation to the furnace 5.

The baffle plate I within the casing I2 and below the opening in the top thereof in communication with the stack II is provided of such a diameter and in such relation with the lower end of the stack II as to impede the too rapid passage of air and the products of combustion to the stack I I, and thereby eflecting a reduction in the velocity of the escaping products of combustion, so as to prevent excessive draft in the furnace and increase the tendency of the fullers earth particles or the like particles to remain in suspension and be carried along in suificient proportions by the products of combustion which issue from the furnace and are projected into the casing I2.

The object of having the lower end portion of the gooseneck I8 depressed is to provide that the products of combustion, with the particles suspended therein shall be projected downwardly into the casing I2 at such an angle against the downwardly diverging Walls of the upper part of the casing, so that the fullers earth is directed into a path which is well outside of the zone of influence of the upwardly moving currents of the air and products of combustion as they rise above and around the baflle plate I5 and escape into the stack II.

The normal closed position of the gate valve 22 in the conduit I4 results in the building up of an air cushion thereabove producing a dead air space in the lower inverted conical portion of the casing I2, upon which the fullers earth particles or the like particles settle gravitationally, while the lighter or less dense products of combustion rise in the casing I2 and pass out through the stack II.

Under the lower end of the conduit I4 is a suitably angulated collector conduit 26 whose lower end passes through the side walls of the furnace 5 at a point below that at which the products of combustion were withdrawn into the stack portion I4. When a suflicient accumulation of particles has taken place in the conduit I 4, the gate valve 22 will be opened by the weight of the particles against the resistance of the weight 25, and the particles will be emptied into the collector conduit 26 and move gravitationally into the furnace 5 at the point indicated.

The process of the invention comprises passing the products of combustion of a furnace or drier of the type indicated in the drawing and described above downwardly into and permitting the solid particles to separate and gravitate through the dead air space, while permitting the lighter or less dense products of combustion to rise through the space and escape and collecting the particles which have gravitated through the dead air space, and then conveying the collected particles by gravity either to storage or to a point in the drier or furnace below that at which the products of combustion were withdrawn, so that the particles may be further treated in the furnace or drier. Throughout the process the particles are maintained at a sufliciently high temperature to prevent the formation of condensation.

The stack portion I1 is of such a height and cross section that by virtue of its connection to the upper section of the furnace and the rising of the products of combustion therein, the stack will be sufficiently heated to preclude the formation of condensation therein. The importance of obviating condensation in the stack will be understood when it is considered that moisture caused by condensation would be carried over into the separator .casing I2 and cause the separated particles to pack and sludge to such an extent that the accumulated particles could not pass out of the separator casing under their own weight and would have to be shoveled out. The separator casing is so arranged and constructed that the dry highly heated products of combustion entering the separator casing by the gooseneck I8 sufficiently heat the interior of the casing and the battle I5 so that the condensation is prevented within the separator casing and gooseneck. It will be obvious that it is equally if not more important that the interior of the separator casing be kept hot and free of moisture so that a proper separation of the particles will take place and to ensure that. the separated and collected particles will remain separated and in a free flowing dry condition. If the particles as they come into the separator casing are wet they cannot be properly separated but will simply fall to the bottom of the casing and form a sludge which will plug the conduits I4 and 26 and render the apparatus partly or completely inoperative until cleaned out at great expense and loss of operating time. I understand that an inefficient condition of this kind is one of the greatest objections to presently used particle separating devices and methods of using the same. My apparatus, and the process of using the same is not, however, subject to these objections, but by the use thereof I am enabled to maintain a highly efficient operating condition over an indefinitely long period of time and recover and enable the reconditioning and reuse of a larger percentage of the decarbonized fullers earth than has heretofore been possible.

The importance of providing in my invention the means described whereby fracture and pulverization of the fullers earth particles is avoided will be understood when it is realized that in order to be useful for oil refining purposes the fullers earth particles must retain their original porous, absorptive, cellular character through any process of re-conditioning or rejuvenating thereof, and that the particles will be wholly useless for these purposes if fractured or pulverized during or as the result of the working of the reconditioning or rejuvenating process. Since it can be shown that my apparatus and process enable the reburning or rejuvenating of the carbonized fullers earth used for oil refining purposes on an average of thirty-two (32) times as against an average of eight (8) times possible with other apparatus and process, before the fullers earth becomes unfit for this use, the superiority of my apparatus and process is clearly established. especially since my apparatus and process enables the recovery and reuse of a large percentage of the fullers earth which is now' being lost in the best available apparatus.

An outstanding advantage of the present process is the prevention of flashing of the decarbonized fullers earth as it enters the upper section of the furnace. This phenomenon may be explained by stating that in conventional fullers earth rejuvenating processes, as'in the present invention, the fullers earth is treated with decarbonizing material to remove the hydrocarbon and other sludge absorbed by the fullers earth during its use in the oil refining operations. At the termination of the decarbonizing there remains in the fullers earth a certain amount of this readily inflammable decarbonizing material.

pairment of the fullers earth. In my apparatus and process, whensuch flashing of the decarbonized fullers earth commences, the uprush of pressure through the stack is met by a cushion of air trapped in the upper part of the stack and in the separator casing by virtue of the construction already described, which checks the unusual updraft in the stack and clamps the flashing in a manner unfavorable of a continuance thereof. This automatic checking of flashing in the upper section of the "furnace not only very advantageously controls and imparts regularity to the draft through the apparatus, but prevents impairment of considerable portions of the charge in the surface and ensures a more uniform final product of higher grade.

It will be observed that no artificial or forced draft assistance is given the natural draft in the present invention which takes the fullers earth out of the upper section of the furnace, passes it through the separator, and permits it to return to the lower section of the furnace, and that the entire circulation-is achieved and maintained by natural circulation and the force of gravity, a circumstance which makes my very efficient apparatus and process cheaper to operate and maintain than any others known to me.

It will be obvious that it is possible to construct an apparatus suitable for carrying out the process of the invention differently from that shown and described herein and in the patent applications mentioned herein, and therefore, the disclosure of a suitable apparatus herein is not to be taken as or fora limitation upon the process set forth herein, but only as a disclosure necessary to complete the disclosure of the process, with which this application is principally concerned.

Though I have shown and described herein a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be definitely understood that I do not desire to limit the application of the invention thereto, and any change or changes may be made in materials and ingredients, and in the duration and sequence of steps and operations, within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is: 1

1. In a' process of separating and collecting boththe heavier and the lighter particles of fullers earth entrained in gaseous products of combustion of a fullers earth revivifying furnace, the steps of confining said products while hot in a manner to permit the same to rise by natural draft to a higher level at a sufliciently high temperature to prevent the occurrence of condensation in said products, then directing the risen products downwardly from said level so that they flow in a declining course, confining air so as to produce a dead air space into which the declining products flow whereby gravitational separation of said fullers earth particles from said products takes place, and collecting the separated fullers earth particles as they fall through said dead air space, while permitting said products to escape, the air confined in said dead air space being heated by the incoming products and particles to a sufficiently high temperature to obviate the occurrence of condensa tion therein and in the collected particles and whereby packing of the collected fullers earth particles is positively prevented.

2. In a process of separating and collecting both the lighter and the heavier particles of fullers earth entrained in the gaseous products of combustion of a fullers earth revivifying furnace, the steps of permitting escape of said products while hot from an upper level of said furnace, confining the escaping products in a manner to permit the same to rise by natural draft to a greater elevation, said products being confined throughout their rise in a manner to maintain them at a sufiiciently high temperature to prevent the occurrence of condensation, then downwardly and angularly directing the risen products while still hot, confining air in a manner to create a dead air space receiving and heated by the downwardly directed products whereby said heavier and lighter fullers earth particles become gravitationally separated from said products, and whereby said air and said particles continue to have a temperature suificiently high to preclude the formation of condensation therein which might otherwise form and cause packing of said particles, discharging said products, and collecting the separated fullers earth particles as they fall through said dead air space, and returning the collected fullers earth particles gravitationally to a lower level of said furnace whereby asecond escape of said separated fullers earth particles from said upper level of the furnace is prevented.

3. In a process of separating and collecting both the lighter and the heavier particles of fullers earth entrained in the gaseous products of combustion of a fullers earth revivifying furnace, the steps of permitting escape of said products while hot from an upper level of said furnace, confining the escaping products in a manner to permit the same to rise by natural draft to a greater elevation, said products being contain them at a sufficiently high temperature to prevent the occurrence of condensation, then downwardly and angularly directing the risen products while still hot, confining air in a manner to create a dead air space receiving and heated by the downwardly directed products whereby said heavier and lighter particles of fullers earth become gravitationally separated from said prod ucts, and whereby said air and said particles continue to have a temperature sufficiently high to preclude the formation of condensation therein which might otherwise form and cause packing of said particles, then discharging said products, and collecting the separated fullers earth particles as they fall through said dead air space, and returning the collected fullers earth particles gravitationally to a lower level of said furnace whereby a second escape of said separated particles from said upper level of the furnace is prevented, said products being downwardly and angularly directed into said dead-air space in a manner to avoid fracturing or disintegration thereof of said lighter and heavier particles of fullers earth.

4. In a process of separating and collecting both the lighter and the heavier particles of fined throughout their rise in a manner to mainfullers earth entrained in the gaseous products of combustion of a fullers earth revivifying furnace, the steps of permitting escape of said products while hot from ,an upper level of said furnace, confining the escaping products in a manner to permit the same to rise by natural draft to a greater elevation, said products being confined throughout their rise in a manner to have a sufliciently high temperature to preclude the occurrence of condensation therein, then downwardly and angularly directing the risen products while still hot, confining air in a manner to create a dead air space receiving and heated by the downwardly directed products whereby said lighter and heavier particles of fullers earth become gravitationally separated from said products, and whereby said air and said particles continue to have a temperature sufiiciently high to preclude the formation of condensation therein which might otherwise form and cause packing of said particles, discharging said products, and collecting the separated fullers earth particles as they fall through said dead air space, and returning the collected particles gravitationally to a lower level of said furnace whereby a second escape of said separated solid particles from said upper level of the furnace is prevented, said particles being gravitationally conveyed from said dead-air space to said lower level of the furnace at a sufficiently high temperature to preclude formation of condensation therein.

5. In a process of separating and collecting both the lighter and the heavier particles of fullers earth entrained in the gaseous products of combustion of a fullers earth revivifylng furnace, the steps of permitting escape of said products while hot from an upper level of said furnace, confining the escaping products in a manner to permit the same to rise by natural draft to a greater elevation, said products being confined throughout their rise ina manner to maintain the same at a sufficiently high temperature to preclude the occurrence of condensation therein, then downwardly and angularly directing the risen products while still hot confining air in a manner to create a dead air space receiving and heated by the downwardly directed products whereby said fullers earth particles become gravitationally separated from said prodnets and thereby said air and said particles continue to have a temperature sufficiently high to preclude the formation of condensation therein which might otherwise form and cause packing of said particles, discharging said products, and collecting the separated fullers earth particles as they fall through de'ad air space and returning said collected solid particles gravitationally to a lower level of said furnace whereby a second escape of said separated particles from said upper level of the furnace is prevented, said process including the step of retarding the natural rise of said products of combustion in a manner to form an air trap acting as a bar to any sudden increase in the speed of rise of said products issuing from said furnace, so that flashing of the fullers earth in the upper level of said furnace is extinguished.

3. In a process of revivifying fullers earth involving burning decarbonized fullers earth by passing the same downwardly through a revivifying furnace, the steps of permitting escape of hot gaseous products of combustion having solid particles of fullers earth entrained therein from an upper level of said furnace and confining said products so that they rise by natural draft only, then gently downwardly flowing the risen products into dead air produced by confining air into which the downwardly flowing products pass whereby the solid particles of fullers earth are gravitationally separated and said products of combustion permitted to rise by natural draft and escape from the region of said dead air, and collecting the separated particles of fullers earth as they fall through said dead air region and returning them gravitationally to a lower level of said furnace.

'7. In a process of revivifying fullers earth involving burning decarbonized fullers earth by passing the same downwardly through a revivifying furnace, the steps of permitting escape of hot gaseous products of combustion having solid particles of fullers earth entrained therein from an upper level of said furnace and confining said products so that they rise by natural draft only, then gently downwardly flowing the risen products into dead air produced by confining air into which the downwardly flowing products pass whereby the solid particles of fullers earth are gravitationally separated and said products of combustion are permitted to rise by natural draft and escape from the region of said dead air, and collecting the separated particles of fullers earth as they fall through said dead air region and returning them gravitationally to a lower level of the furnace, said products being confined during the initial escape thereof from said furnace and while in said dead-air space and while traveling to said lower level of the furnace, at asufllciently high temperature to preclude the formation of condensation in said products, the presence of which condensation would otherwise cause packing of said particles and thereby impair separation of said particles from said products and gravitational return thereof to said furnace.

8. In a process of revivifying fullers earth involving burning decarbomzed fullers earth by passing the same downwardly through a revivifying furnace, the steps of permitting escape of hot gaseous products of combustion having solid particles of fullers earth entrained therein from an upper level of said furnace and confining said products so that they rise by natural draft only, then gently downwardly flowing the risen products into dead air produced by confining air into which the downwardly flowing products pass whereby the solid particles of fullers earth are gravitationally separated and said products of combustion permitted to rise by natural draft and escape from the region of said dead air, and collecting the separated particles of fullers earth as they fall through said dead air region and returning them gravitationally to a lower level of the heater, said process including retarding the movement of said rising products in a manner to produce an air trap for preventing a sudden increase of and the continuance of an increased speed of rise of said products issuing from said upper level of the furnace, thereby tending to prevent and extinguish flashing of said decarbonized fullers earth in said upper level of the furnace.

BERT MANROSS. 

